Thread treating machines



April 25, 1967 5, w, BARKER 3,315,498

THREAD TREATING MACHINES Filed Aug. 25, 1964 5 Sheets-$het 1 I/VVENTOR SYDNEY WARR EN BARKER er H9221. Cil ZOc/{s A TTOR/VE) A ril 25, 1967 s. w. BARKER 3,315,498

THREAD TREATING MACHINES Filed Aug. 25, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IVE/VTOR SYDNEY WARREN BARKER BY h HRL CllHQc/(g H A TTOR/VEY April 25, 1967 s. W. BARKER 3,315,498

' THREAD TREATING MACHINES Filed Aug. 25, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet Z INVENTOI? SYDNEY WARREN BARKER BY HHRL CUFZOcHs AT TOR/V5) United States Patent 3,315,498 THREAD TREATING MACHINES Sydney Warren Barker, Colne, Lancashire, England, as-

signor to Nelvale Limited, Nelson, England, a British company Filed Aug. 25, 1964, Ser. No. 391,993 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Aug. 27, 1963, 33,831/63 14 Claims. (Cl. 68-9) This invention relates to thread treating machines for applying the various setting, washing and other treatments to spun fibres before they are wound on bobbins. It has long been customary to use so-called skew roll type thread-storing, thread-advancing machines in the spinning, setting and after treatment of viscose r'ayon thread. The term skew roll is a conventional term of art for describing the basic arrangement of the main or thread storing rolls of the machine which are embraced by a thread sheet consisting of successive loops of thread constituting a flattened helical path from the input to the discharge end of the machine, the axes of these rolls being skewed or slightly inclined with respect to each other in order to impart the required automatic progression of the thread along the lengths of the rolls. The normal angle between the axes of a pair of main rolls is of the order of /2 to 1.

One of the serious problems in connection with this type of machine, especially where the total number of separate treatments is large, is to ensure that each treatment is made thoroughly and eificiently whilst providing the necessary degree of separation between the liquors, ensuring the very minimum of carry-forward of treatment liquors, and at the same time keeping the machine simple and of a size capable of being easily serviced.

In early designs of machine the liquid treatments were done by allowing jets of liquor to fall onto the lower of two main skew rolls and providing gapped flanges, rings of helical grooves, or liquor-resisting rings to give the liquor separation. These methods have been found unsatisfactory where a multiplicity of treatments are required, as the length of roll required to give efiicient treatment together with satisfactory separation is too great, resulting in an impractical length of roll.

In the specification of our earlier Patent No. 3,174,- 312, issued Mar. 23, 1965, there is disclosed a thread treating machine of the skew roll type in which a separate intermediate treatment roll unit is located between a pair of main thre'ad storing, thread advancing rolls, this unit comprising several co-axial rolls or roll sections,

one for each treatment zone, which are separated by a radially deep gap through which one or more thread loops can pass direct between the pair-of main rolls. Each treatment roll engages, over a significant arc of its circumference, those thread loops which lie in the normally required for full after-treatment of the spun thread, together with complete liquor separation, on the main rolls, the overall length of the rolls was still undesirably great.

It has further been proposed in our said earlier specification to use a treatment roll device positioned inside the helical thread loop on the skew roll assembly and to arrange the device so that each loop of the thread sheet in the treatment Zone makes contact withva treatment roll over opposed arcs thereof. This arrangement, whilst allowing the use of narrower-faced treatment rolls, and hence reducing the length of the machine, requires jet feed of the treatment liquor with consequent greater uncertainty of accuracy in treatment. It is also diflicult to service and operate, since the treatment rolls are not accessible during the operation of the machine.

In the description and claims which follow, it is convenient to assume a construction of machine in which the median plane is vertical, and, contains two skewed axes which, in a conventional machine, represent the axes of two skew rolls carrying the thread sheet. One or both respective treatment zone and has treatment liquor applied to its surface-preferably by dipping into a trough containing the appropriate liquor. The liquor is thus transferred by the roll circumference to the thread loops with which it makes contact.

This constitutes an important advance, since the width of the circumferential face of each treatment roll and the spacing of the thread loops round the skew rolls controls accurately the degree of treatment given, and if a small diameter 'main roll is used in the skew ro1ler assembly for engagement by the thread after leaving the treatment roll, then the angular velocity of such a small roller is sufiiciently high to ensure that 'a high proportion of excess liquor is flung off and good separation obtained.

However, it was found in practice that in order to get satisfactory treatment by the nine or ten separate liquors of these rolls is, in a machine according to the present invention, replaced by a plurality of rolls. The terms upper and lower used herein are referred to this assumed construction, and it is to be understood that they may be interchanged if desired. In this specification, the term median plane means the central plane about which the main thread storing roll axes are symmetrically disposed, with said plane arranged in a substantially parallel manner with respect to said axes taking into account the variation from this parallelism due to the skewed positioning of said axes. The aforesaid median plane may also be at any angle to the vertical. Consequently, the terms upper, lower, and vertical are purely arbitrarily adopted for convenience of designation, and are not to be construed as limitative.

The present invention sets out to overcome these difliculties whilst still ensuring that the thread is given a treatment twice in each loop so that the treatment roll faces can be reduced in width to a minimum and so leave ample space between each treatment zone for liquor separation. At the same time the overall length of the skew rolls is reduced. Moreover, the treatment rolls run in liquor troughs so that the accuracy of application of treatment liquor is not dependent on control of the flowthrough jets. Furthermore, the treatment rolls are accessible for cleaning while the machine is in operation. Additionally the machine can be built so that the unit spacing along a multi-unit machine is kept at approximately 10" (or 25 cms.) as commonly used in conventional viscose spinning machines, which consist of a succession of skew roll units arranged symmetrically about vertical median planes and located side-by-side in a common horizontal frame.

These results are obtained by replacing the lower main roll of a conventional two-roll skew roll machine unit by a group of three small main rolls placed at the corners of either a right or an inverted isosceles triangle and runing in conjunction with a set of treatment rolls located outside the closed envelope or thread sheet constituted by the thread loops and so arranged that, over the liquor treatment zones, each flight of a thread loop between a pair of main rolls in the group will twice make contact with a treatment roll over the respective treatment Zones.

Alternative practical embodiments of the present invention are illustrated, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic end view of the roll arrangement of the first embodiment;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of FIGURE 1 on the arrow 11;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 of a second embodiment;

- 3 I FIGURE 4 is a side view on the arrow IV of FIG- URE 3; and 7 FIGURE 5 is a more detailed view, omitting the scraper blades, on the arrow V of FIGURE 3, and showing a modification.

Referring first to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, three skew roll units, 1, 2, 3 are shown side-by-side, each being symmetrical about a vertical median plane. Each unit is a minor variant of the other two in respect of the upper main roll arrangements, but apart from these variations the three units represent part of a series of up to '50 (or more if required) which constitute a multispindle machine and are mounted in a common frame with a common power drive. The unit shown at 1 has the conventional relatively large diameter upper main roll 10, the diameter of which is usually of the order of 6 /2 inches, whilst the unit shown at 2 has a single small diameter upper main roll 11 and the unit shown at 3 has a pair of such small-diameter upper main rolls 11,.the diameter of each of which may be of the order of 2 inches i.e. between one-half and one-third of the diameter of a conventional large diameter roll.

The normal single lower main roll of a conventional skew roll unit is replaced, in each of the units 1, 2, 3, by three small diameter rolls 12, 13, 14 mounted on parallel axes located at the corners of an inverted isosceles triangle. All the main rolls of a unitor 11, 12, 13, 14-are embraced by the thread loops whose envelope, commonly termed the thread sheet, is shown at v 15. Over each liquor treatment zone-indicated at A,

B, H in FIGURE 2in each unit 1, 2, 3, the thread loop flights 15a, 15]) between the main roll 14 at the apex of the triangle and the rolls 12, 13 make contact with large diameter treatment rolls 16 on a common axis lying wholly outside a thread sheet 15 and parallel to the mean axis of the rolls 12, 13, 14. The diameter of each treatment roll 16, and the position of its axis, is such that the circumferential surface of the roll makes positive contact at all times with one or two of the adjacent thread sheets 15. The lower arcs of the treatment rolls 16 dip into liquor troughs 17. Thus, each thread loop in a treatment zone is treated twice, whilst each treatment roll except those at the extreme ends (exemplified, in the three-unit machine shown in full lines in FIGURE 1, by those at X and Y) treats the thread sheets 15 of two adjacent skew roll units 1, 2 or 2, 3, which accordingly share their treatment rolls. There is thus one more treatment roll set per machine than the number of skew roll units 1, 2,3

After the last liquor treatment zone H, each skew roll unit 1, 2, 3'has a drying zone K at the thread discharge end of the unit. Where a large upper main roll 10 is used, as in unit 1, the drying mechanism may be incorporated in this roll, as disclosed in British Patent No. 814,477. There is then no treatment roll 16 over the drying zone K. If, however, there is no drying mechanism in the top main roll or rolls, 'a final treatment roll 16' (FIGURE 2) is provided for this'zone, and is preferably longer than is normally necessary for any of the preceding liquor treatment rolls 16. It may incorporate a heater such as that disclosed in the said patent and a supple- 4 treatment rolls 16. For example, the drying zone of the unit 1 in FIGURE 1 may have its roller 16' coaxial with the treatment roll set marked X or with the set marked Z, the latter selection being actually illustrated. This selection is not necessarily determined by the direction of rotation of the rolls; in the case illustrated, the first loop of the'thread sheet 15' over the drying zone of the unit 1 is formed by taking the leading end of the thread from the lower main roll 13 at the end of the treatment zone H and laying it first downwards over the rolls 1'6, 18

at Z on the side nearest the lower main roll 14, then below the jockey roll 18 and upwards'over the top of the roll 16' to complete the loop.

If, however, the designer selects the set of treatment rolls 16 marked at X in FIGURE 1 for the location of the drying roll 16' in the unit 1, the leading end of the thread is drawn off the lower main roll 14 at the end of the treatment zone H and laid over the top of the drying roll 16' and then wrapped round the roll 16' and the appropriate jockey roll 18 (not shown) in an anti-clockwise direction to form a thread sheet similar to those 2 shown at 15' but on the left-hand side of the unit 1.

mentary or jockey roll 18 is mounted below the drying roll 16?. A new series of thread loops 15' is formed to embrace only the rolls 16', 18, and the axis of the jockey roll 18 is set at a small inclination to that of the roll 16' so as to give a reduction in the loop spacing of the thread sheet 15', thus increasing the heating efiiciency of the drying zone in known manner.

i the drying roll 16 and its associated jockey roll 18 should be aligned with the left-hand or the right-hand set of From the foregoing, it follows that one set of treatment rolls 16 (FIGURE 1, the set shown at X) need not be provided with drying rolls 16', 18.

In the arrangement shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 and FIGURE 5, the position of the apex roll 14 of the three lower main rolls 12, 13, 14 is altered with respect to the previous embodiment, so that the axes of these rolls now define a right isosceles triangle. The liquor treatment rolls 16 are now located between the lower main rolls 12 and 13, and the thread sheet flights 15a, 15b on either i side of the apex roll 14 now engage the same treatment roll but on opposite sides of the vertical median plane or centre-line of the unit. In this embodiment, therefore, there are only the same number of sets of treatment rolls 16 per machine as there are skew roll units 1, 2, 3.

The drying zone K in FIGURES 3 and 4 is also slightly ditferently arranged from that of FIGURES 1 and 2 in that the thread sheets 15' in this zone pass over the treatment roll 16 and the discharge end of the apex roll 14, thus avoiding the use of a supplementary or jockey roll 18. The axis of the apex roll 14 is inclined to that of the treatment rolls 16 so that, over the drying zone K,

per or doctor blades 19 on the upper roll of a skew roll unit where this is of the single large diameter kind shown at 10 in FIGURE 3 and in unit 1 of FIGURE 1. Such '7 scraper or doctor blades are desirable where a large upper roll is used owing to the possibility that, during continuous operation of the machine, there might 'be'a build-up of liquor on its circumference due to the deposit of excess liquor by the wet thread, andthe fact that the.

angular velocity of the large roll is insuflicient under nor rnal operating conditions to fling 01f the accumulated liquor. If such build-up were allowed to proceed, intermingling of treatment liquors might occur, with the consequent disadvantages which it is the object of the use of separate treatment rolls 16 and small diameter lower main rolls 12, 13, 14 to eliminate. 7

Where, however, one or more small diameter upper main rolls are usedas at 11 in units 2 and 3 of FIGURE 1the need for scraper or doctor blades 191$ normally eliminated since the angular velocity of the rolls 11 is high enough to produce the necessary centrifugal force a on the liquor to ensure adequate removal thereof from the roll surfaces. 7

Although the treatment rolls-16 are shown in FIG- URES 2 and 4 as plain cylinders, for simplicity of illustration only, in a practical construction such as that shown in FIGURE 5 they are contoured or profiled in order to facilitate the passage of the starting up band and any adjacent wandering? thread loops onto the circumference of the rolls. Thus, although the mean positions of the thread loops are stable once the starting up band has laid the thread on the working lengths. of the rolls, each loop may be subject to random small variations in position during continued operation of the machine.

In FIGURE 5, the leading and trailing edges of the circumference of each roll 16 are formed with several short shallow steps 16a down to a radius just less than the perpendicular distance between the axis of the roll 16 and the tangent between the roll 14 and either of the rolls 12 and 13. Alternatively, the opposite edges of the circumference may be chamfered down to such radius, or the entire roll may be handled so that its circumference presents a smoothly curved profile in side elevation.

Such profiling of the rolls 16 may be sufiicient where the angle of lap of the thread loop flights 15a, 15b (FIGURES 1 and 3) is relatively small. Where, however, the angle of lap is largesay 30 or upwardsa positive pick-up formation may be provided on the ends of the rolls as disclosed, for example, in our Patent No. 3,209,562 issued Oct. 5, 1965.

FIGURE 5 shows the combination with the right isosceles triangle configuration of the lower main rolls 12, 13, 14 of the drying zone roll arrangement 16, 18 of FIGURES l and 2. All the rolls 10-14, 16, 16 and 18 are carried on longitudinal main girders 20 which, in a normal production plant, extend in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, for a suflicient length to accommodate up to fifty such roll units. The upper roll 10 of such a multiple unit machine is driven through gear boxes 21 from. a common shaft 22, while all the other rolls are driven through similar gear boxes 23 and chain and sprocket drives 24 from a common shaft 25. The longitudinal main girders 20 are supported on end frames 26, with similar frames at intervals as necessary to brace and st ifien the girders 20.

In a typical machine according to the present invention for treating viscose rayon thread, the successive treatment zones provide first acid setting; then two separate Washings; then desulphurising followed by two separate washings; then bleaching, followed successively by washing, soaping and drying, although other arrangements can be adopted as necessary.

I claim:

1. A skew roll thread treating machine having an up per main roll and a group of three lower main rolls, all said main rolls cooperating to store and advance thread 'l'aid therearound in helical loops to form a thread sheet extending over successive treatment zones spaced along the length of the machine, said group of three rolls being symmetrically disposed about the median plane of the machine, and a set of coaxial treatment rolls located externally of the thread sheet, each treatment roll making contact with the thread sheet on at least one of its flights between a pair of successive main rolls in the group.

2. A skew roll thread treating machine according to claim 1 wherein the axes of the three main rolls in the group seen in end elevation define an inverted triangle with its apex downwards and the set of treatment rolls makes contact with a flight of the thread sheet between the main roll at the said apex and one other of the said group of main rolls.

3. A skew roll thread treating machine having a plurality of units each constructed in accordance with claim 2 and located side-*by-side with an adjacent unit so that the median planes of the several units are parallel, the treatment roll set of one unit also constituting a treatment roll set of an adjacent unit.

4. A skew roll thread treating machine comprising a plurality of units each comprising an upper main roll and a group of three lower main rolls, all said main rolls cooperating to store and advance thread laid therearound in helical loops to form a thread sheet extending over successive treatment Zones spaced along the length of the machine, said group of three rolls being symmetrically disposed about the median plane of the machine, a set of coaxial treatment rolls common to a pair of adjacent units and located between the groups of lower main rolls of the said pair of units so as to make contact with one thread flight on one unit and the opposite thread flight on the adjacent unit, and a further set of treatment rolls associate-d with each end unit of the machine and making contact with a thread flight of the associated unit on the side thereof opposite from the common set of treatment rolls.

5. A skew roll thread treatment machine having a plurality of thread storage, thread advancing main rolls including a group of three main rolls with a plane through their axes defining the vertices of a right triangle symmetrical about the median plane of the machine, and a set of coaxial treatment rolls located below the main roll at the apex, each treatment roll making contact with a thread flight on either side of the apex roll over a respective treatment zone.

6. A skew roll thread treatment machine having an upper main roll and a group of three lower main rolls, said main rolls cooperating to store and advance thread laid therearound in helical loops to form a thread sheet extending over successive treatment zones spaced along the length of the machine, said group of lower main rolls being symmetrically disposed with respect to the median plane of the machine with a plane through their axes defining the vertices of a right triangle, and a set of coaxial treatment rolls located below the main roll at the apex, each treatment roll making contact with a thread flight on either side of the apex roll over a respective treatment zone.

7. A skew roll thread treatment machine comprising a plurality of thread-storing, thread-advancing units each constructed in accordance with claim 6 and arranged in side-by-side relation with their median planes parallel.

8. A skew roll thread treatment machine comprising thread-storing, thread-advancing main rollsincluding a group of three such rolls whose axes when seen in end elevation define a triangle located symmetrically with respect to the median plane of the machine, the thread sheet passing over the rolls in the group in two flights, one on either side of the roll at the apex of the triangle, a set of treatment rolls on a common axis located so that all but one end roll of the treatment rolls make contact with at least one of said flights of the thread sheet over respective liquor treatment zones; and a jockey roll located close to and at a slight inclination relative to the said one end roll of the treatment roll set.

9. A skew roll thread treatment machine comprising thread-storing, thread-advancing main rolls including a group of three such rolls whose axes when seen in end elevation define a triangle located symmetrically with respect to the median plane of the machine, the thread sheet passing over the rolls in the grou in two flights, one on either side of the roll at the apex of the triangle; a set of treatment rolls on a common axis located so that all but the end roll of the said set adjacent the thread discharge end of the machine makes contact with at least one of the said flights of the thread sheet over respective liquor treatment zones; and a jockey roll adjacent said end roll and cooperating solely therewith to carry the thread loops over a thread drying zone prior to discharge of the thread from the machine.

10. A skew roll thread treatment machine having a large diameter and a group of three small diameter main thread-storing, thread advancing rolls for carrying the thread sheet, the axes of said group as seen in end elevation being arranged in the form of a triangle symmetrical with the median plane of the machine, and a set of coaxial treatment rolls located on a common axis so as to make contact with at least one flight of the thread sheet between successive rolls of said group of three main rolls.

11 A skewv roll thread treatment machine having one small diameter upper main roll and a group of three a small diameter lower main rolls, all said main rolls being adapted to store and advance the helical loops of the thread sheet through successive'thread treatment zones, the axes of said group of three main rolls seen in end elevation defining a triangle symmetrical with the median plane of the machine, and a set of coaxial treatment rolls located on a common aXis so as to make contact with at least one flight of the thread sheet between successive rolls ,of said group of three main rolls.

12. A skew roll thread treatment machine having two small diameter 'upper main rolls and a group of three small diameter lower main rolls, all said main rolls being adapted to store and advance the helical loops of the thread sheet through successive thread treatment zones, the axes of said group of three main rolls seen in end elevation defining a triangle symmetrical with the median elevation define a triangle symmetrical with respect to the median plane of the machine, and a set of treatment rolls located externally of said thread loops so as to make contact with at least one flight of said thread sheet between consecutive main rolls of said group and located side-by-side in close juxtaposition in said frame with their median planes parallel; a set of coaxial treatment rolls located midway between each adjacent pair of units and externally of their respective thread loops so as to make contact on the one side with 21 thread sheet flight of one unit and on the other side, with a thread sheet flight of the other unit; and a set of coaxial trea ment rolls at each end of said main frame located, externally of the thread sheet of the respective adjacent end unit to make contact with an'adjacent flight of the thread sheet; a I

14. A skew roll thread treatment machine comprising a main frame; a plurality of thread-stoning, threadadvancing units having a plurality of main rolls for storing and advancing helical thread loops of the'thread sheet wherein a group of three 'of;said main" rolls is arranged so that the axis of said group seen in end elevation define a triangle symmetrical with respect to' the median plane of the machine, and a set of treatment rolls located externally of said thread loops so as to a 7 make contact with at least one flight of said thread sheet between consecutive main rollsof said group and located side-by-side in close juxtaposition in said frame with their median planes parallel, the 'main roll at the apex of the triangle beinglocated nearer to a main roll not included in the said group than the other two main rolls thereof, and a set of coaxial treatment :rolls whose common axis lies in the median'pl ane on the side of the said apex roll remote from the said excluded main roll so as to make contact with both flights of the thread sheet between successive rolls of the-group.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 766,464 8/1904 Palmer 68-176X 816,179 3/1906 Palmer 68176 2,308,576 1/1943 Kornegg. 2,688,333 9/1954 Lorig 68-176 x a 3,174,312 3/1965 Barker 68-176 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,148 of1902 Great Britain.

IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SKEW ROLL THREAD TREATING MACHINE HAVING AN UPPER MAIN ROLL AND A GROUP OF THREE LOWER MAIN ROLLS, ALL SAID MAIN ROLLS COOPERATING TO STORE AND ADVANCE THREAD LAID THEREAROUND IN HELICAL LOOPS TO FORM A THREAD SHEET EXTENDING OVER SUCCESSIVE TREATMENT ZONES SPACED ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE MACHINE, SAID GROUP OF THREE ROLLS BEING SYMMETRICALLY DISPOSED ABOUT THE MEDIAN PLANE OF THE MACHINE, AND A SET OF COAXIAL TREATMENT ROLLS LOCATED EXTERNALLY OF THE THREAD SHEET, EACH TREATMENT ROLL MAKING CONTACT WITH THE THREAD SHEET ON AT LEAST ONE OF ITS FLIGHTS BETWEEN A PAIR OF SUCCESSIVE MAIN ROLLS IN THE GROUP. 